NHL Playoffs: Islanders vs. Panthers recap, full highlights

The Florida Panthers shut down the New York Islanders in a 3-1 Game 2 win.

After a sloppy effort to open the playoffs, the Florida Panthers played much better defensively in Friday night’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first round to even their series with the New York Islanders at one.

Just like in Game 1 on Thursday night, the Panthers got off to a great start on home ice. Reilly Smith tallied his third goal of the series at the 4:32 mark of the first period on a nice find from Nick Bjugstad.

That 1-0 advantage would hold for the rest of the period, even with the Islanders generating a few more chances than Florida. The Panthers killed two New York Power Plays, as Roberto Luongo looked much better than last night with 11 saves in the first.

This time around, the Panthers were able to extend the lead further, which they failed to do three different times in Game 1. Florida’s second line continued its productive series, as Smith found Bjugstad this time for a goal at the 6:17 mark.

Meanwhile, Luongo continued his stellar game by denying some strong New York pressure with a few terrific saves throughout the period. John Taveras still had an impact every time he was on the ice, but the Panthers generally did a much better job containing him after a three-point effort on Thursday night.

Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss, filling in for the injured Jaroslav Halak, made a few nice saves to keep New York in it with Florida putting some pressure on in the third. Taveras got on the scoresheet with three and a half minutes left to make things interesting at 2-1.

Luongo and Florida managed to hold on against the extra attacker for nearly two minutes to even the series. The Islanders outshot Florida this time around, but the Panthers cut down on the critical defensive mistakes to pull out the victory.

Three stars

3. Brian Campbell, D, Florida. Led Florida’s strong overall defensive effort with increased physical play and did a decent job on the Taveras line, even with the late goal.

2. Reilly Smith, RW, Florida. Built on career-best regular season with another goal and assists to lead strong Florida second line.

1. Roberto Luongo, G, Florida. After poor Game 1, made 41 saves to slow down Islanders offense.

Full highlights

"The @FlaPanthers strike first and it’s @reillysmith18!https://t.co/uKxUMUBdPu— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) April 15, 2016"

Next game

The series will head back to Brooklyn tied 1-1 for Game 3 on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.